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Aaron’s eyes had more or less glazed over once his and Max’s conversation died down, staring somewhere in the vague direction of the skull. He blinked a few times when Eris popped into view, his vision clearing just in time to see the vampire turn his back on the mages, apparently looking at something and trying to hide it. The coin, maybe? Frankly, Aaron wasn’t particularly interested in whatever it was, but it was strange enough to see the actor behaving so sheepishly that he couldn’t help but take notice. Judging by how he pulled down his sleeve almost bashfully when he turned back, Aaron figured he must have been checking for wounds; maybe he was just embarrassed about having been injured in his trial. 

Still, seeing the actor embarrassed about [i]anything[/i]—especially considering the various compromising positions Aaron had borne witness to in the past and [i]sun and stars why did those memories have to pop back up again[/i]—was downright bizarre, and the strangeness didn’t stop there. Much like Max, he’d dropped his usual persona on reappearance, losing his usual swagger and striking the flippant tone from his voice. Aaron was reasonably sure Max’s change in demeanour had been an act, considering he was regular old Max when they spoke, but Eris seemed sincere. And angry. What happened in there? 

Whatever it was, he still apparently won his encounter, if the coin half was any indication. Varis popped out shortly afterwards, and Aaron gave the Count his undivided attention even as he completely ignored the rest of them, examining the skull. He was surprised, however, to see Varis touching his ear; the Count wasn’t one for offhand gestures, and seeing as he also generally avoided touching his face, it certainly wasn’t an accident. He must have been checking for injuries too, then. Aaron’s own hand came up to tug [i]his[/i] left ear out of habit, fingers running over his scar as they had a thousand times before. As they did, the grim realization struck him that if it [i]had[/i] been his clone in there with Varis, the placement of that particular injury might have been deliberate.

He only hoped that the clone hadn’t gone into detail as to why. 

When Varis eventually deigned to rejoin them, he brought the skull with him, though Aaron was more interested in the coin halves, accepting them with a curt bow of the head. At least they seemed to match, identical in size and with similar engravings; he wasn’t sure how they’d deal with it if even after all that grief, they ended up with mismatched coins or something. But luckily they didn’t have to deal with that, and a two-piece puzzle wasn’t much of a puzzle at all, Aaron ready to push the two halves together when he heard Varis invite Eris to their dorm once the test was over. 

He probably wouldn’t have paused—it was hardly a remarkable request, and Eris was at their dorm enough that Aaron was used to him kicking around—if not for the response; or, rather, the [i]lack[/i] of one. Despite often lamenting his busy lifestyle, Eris usually jumped at any offer Varis gave him, generally accepting immediately, and without question. But this time, he [i]paused[/i], and when a long moment passed and he finally answered, his acceptance was barely above a murmur. Hell, he didn’t even [i]glance[/i] Varis’ way. The display was so bizarre Aaron had to consciously stop himself from staring, and he felt a pang of pity in his chest. Eris’ ordeal must have really shaken him up for him to respond so… lethargically. 

Wanting to spare the actor a little bit of pride, Aaron returned his attention to the coins, matching the cut sides together. They fused seamlessly as soon as they touched, revealing the image engraved on the newly-whole coin’s face. It was just a small feather, much to Aaron’s relief; no more emblems of other houses to get Varis worked up. 

[color=f0d705][i]“Tiltoure,”[/i][/color] he murmured, holding off on updating Varis about the coin until he was addressed. In the meantime, he looked around the clearing, checking for any new instructions that might have appeared now that the challenge seemed to be over. 
[right][sub][@Scribe of Thoth] [@Hero] [@Achronum][/sub][/right]